sara matt    Information    Contact
       

dirty laundry

2023

Upon first glance, they are nothing more than slogan t-shirts, but a more careful reading reveals their confessional nature. Each t-shirt bears a secret of mine and forms part of a 10 day long performative endeavour in which I wore a different one every day in order of least to most revealing. The performative aspect of slapping my secrets across my chest aligns itself with an investigation of the division between public and private domains: to those we know, secrets are influential, but to those we don't, they are inconsequential.

The clothing articles themselves adhere to the recognisable visual language of branding or slogans, whilst subverting their conventional content through the use of diaristic one-liners. They are featured on a website and and made and sold to order, priced according to their emotional weight. They thus disperse in the way that secrets typically do: through other people as vehicles.

This practice incorporates an element of relationality in the exchange. People select my secrets that either resonate with or are of interest to them and are willing to pay for the ownership and donning of my confessions.

These individuals draw themselves into my performance through their purchase. They function as both my secret-keepers and secret-spreaders.

to those we know,
secrets are influential.
to those we don't,
they are inconsequential.